Something Like That
by Tadpole24
Summary: When Nick kisses her and it feels all right and wrong at the same time and he's holding her face like he cares, she forgets Sam. Nick/Jess Post episode tag for "Cooler"
1. Chapter 1

_I've never written New Girl before, but how could anyone resist after that kiss!_

_So this is just a little ditty brought on by copious amounts of talking and debriefing on Twitter :) It could go further, I'm not 100% sure yet. You guys get to decide. _

_I hadn't seen the promo for next week when I wrote this, but had seen the promo pictures, so there may be some slight spoiler-age up in here. I'm also flying beta free which is a strange feeling, so any mistakes are my own and I am more than happy to have someone point them out to me._

_Disclaimer: I don't own New Girl, but damn I wish I did! I could create a character whose sole purpose would be to push Nick and Jess together in the most fantastic ways imaginable._

_Enjoy! _

..:::..

Something Like That

..:::..

It's not like they make it a habit or anything, but they certainly don't shy away from it.

She knows it's wrong and he knows it's wrong, but dammit, they've found something that works and they just want to keep going for it.

Sam doesn't know about her midnight dalliances with her roommate, hell, Schmidt and Winston haven't even cottoned on yet. It's a simple thing really, some nights they meet in the hallway between their bedrooms and just share a passing kiss. It's never even close to as passionate as the first time, as though they both feel too guilty to do that again, but her "Goodnight Nick" has never not been accompanied by a quick kiss to her forehead or a sweet peck on her cheek since the night he had lost his trench coat.

It feels dangerous somehow, like they're living on the edge. He never invites her back to his room and she never implies that she would want to go there. While it's just a kiss, they can remain ignorant to its implications.

She likes Sam, she fought for Sam and Sam fought for her. And sometimes she thinks that's enough to warrant him having all the chances in the world. But when Nick kisses her and it feels all right and wrong at the same time and he's holding her face like he cares, she forgets Sam. She forgets everything she went through to get to this point with him. She forgets how guilty she will feel each and every morning. She can even forget those flashes of Spencer in her mind and how horrible she had felt after she had caught him cheating.

Because she knows it's cheating. Even if Nick is the one initiating it all, she's the one letting him.

And the truly horrible thing is that within herself, she can find the will to justify it all.

All she can think about is the intensity of that first kiss between their bedrooms. The look on his face as he grabbed her, the determination to make this a moment to remember, the searing numbness she felt as he had hung his head and slammed the door.

Sam had asked her if she was okay, "You're so quiet, what happened out there?"

She was just grateful her crisis mind was switched on, "There was a dog and a woman. And the woman owned Nick's coat." She cracks a smile, Sam believes it, Nick would have seen right through it, "He's trench coat-less again."

"Oh thank god! He looked like a woman in that thing." He rubs his tired eyes and pulls down the blankets.

She feels this innate need to defend him (even though she thinks Sam is right) but quashes it, biting her tongue and crawling back into bed.

As she drifts off into a slumber she tries not to think about how empty her room feels now that her melon headed Nick Miller look-a-like has been removed.

..:::..

They don't talk about it.

There are a few loaded looks that pass between them at breakfast the next morning and Nick can only grin to himself when Jess says goodbye to Sam and only gives him a brief peck on the cheek.

But that night, as they walk from brushing their teeth to their bedrooms, he takes her hand, kissing it softly before he closes his door behind him.

And she struggles to make sense of it all.

..:::..

She wishes it hadn't come out like this. She wishes it could have stayed a secret forever. At the heart of it, she wishes she had held the capacity to just stop, to go to bed before Nick and to avoid the whole mess.

But she hadn't.

And so she has to stand there, in the middle of Cece's night of prospective husband finding and defend herself and try to salvage a relationship she has been having second thoughts about for a while now.

"You can't deny it, Jess. The way you two act around each other is so much more than what you try to pass it off as!"

"What does that even mean, Sam? We act like friends, because we are friends!"

Somewhere off to the side of the room, Nick takes a step back, fighting the urge to get involved and make it worse for her. He's done enough; he can see them now, the consequences for his selfish actions.

"You're trying to tell me you've never slept together? After_ that_ display?"

She can almost feel Winston and Schmidt pipe up behind her, coming to her defence. And while it's the truth that they haven't slept together, they have wanted to and that's enough for Nick to eyeball his friends, to get them to stand down. They look between themselves not quite understanding what is going on but slowly piecing the puzzle together.

"No Sam, we've never slept together! We were just dancing." She throws her arms up in the air in frustration.

"He looked like he was about to devour you."

"He wasn't-"

"You looked like you were ready for it."

"I wasn't-"

The anger leaks out of his words as realisation takes its place, "You looked how you looked when we first got together."

She doesn't speak.

He nods, "You did kiss him that night, didn't you?"

She doesn't tell him when, but, "Yes."

He nods again, turning and looking for Cece, "I'm sorry if I ruined your night."

She's not quite sure what to say, so she offers him a sad smile as he walks from the room.

Jess breathes, Schmidt and Winston start chattering about signs they have seen in the shifting of the loft dynamic, Cece tries to divert everyone's attention elsewhere and Nick follows Sam.

"Hey Sam," he keeps walking, "Sam, come on!"

When he finally turns around, he looks a mess, "I really liked her, man. I came back for her. You convinced her to let me in."

"I know. I'm-"

"Don't apologise. Just grow up, okay? Right now I'm the better man, but she wants you, so you need to be better for her."

He can't tell if it's an insult or a compliment. Reading the context though, he knows Sam is right. He is the better man, "I will."

Sam just bows his head, turning around and walking away.

..:::..

He's sitting outside her bedroom when she gets home. Her eyes are red, her hair has come loose from the bun it had been in, her dress looks crumpled and yet he doesn't think he's seen her look so gorgeous.

He pats the ground next to him and she sits, their backs against the cool wall.

"I'm so sorry, Jess."

She leans her head back against the wall, trying to keep the fresh tears in her eyes, "I've already forgiven you, haven't I?" There's something bitter in it, like she wants to hate him for kissing her, but can't quite do it because really, she liked it so much.

When he'd said that he might hurt her one day, this hadn't been what he thought he would do. He thought he might ruin her dresses or insult one of her paintings. It was definitely never his intention to break her and Sam up. He just couldn't help himself, there is a part of him that he is pretty sure is falling for Jessica Day and it seems to be a very dominant part.

"You don't have to have forgiven me if you don't want to. I mean, now that you know the circumstances, you can change your mind."

She sniffs and rests a hand on his knee, giving him something to hold onto.

"I want to forgive you." She turns her head slightly, offering him a watery smile.

He doesn't push it that night but offers her a sweet kiss to her temple before they go to their separate rooms.

Part of it is because they can't deal with it all right now, part of it is because they don't want Winston or Schmidt to see them like this yet (whatever _this_ is).

And part of it is because things often look a whole lot different in the daylight and maybe it'll be the kind of different that is easier.

..:::..


	2. Chapter 2

_You people over here in the New Girl fandom are delightful, so I thought I might stay a while longer :) This will only be a short fic…three chapters, maybe four, but I'm finding that I love writing these characters. I hope they come across as realistic to you! _

_Thank you to all of you who reviewed! I think I replied to all that I could, but if you were in Guest mode, I want you to know I appreciate your reviews as well!_

..:::..

Chapter Two

..:::..

To say breakfast is awkward the next morning would be the understatement of the century. Jess tries to avoid the kitchen until her stomach is absolutely growling at her, but when she emerges from her bedroom, it becomes apparent that everyone else is having a late breakfast kind of day as well.

Nick kind of catches her eye, but looks away eating a spoonful of cereal and becoming very interested in the ingredients on the side of the box. Winston sort of smiles, then grabs his toast and practically runs for the table.

The only person looking all together normal is surprisingly Schmidt. As Jess reaches for the paper, he takes it from her, "No hiding behind the big pages today, Jess. The loft would appreciate it if you and Nick would just talk about whatever it is that you have going on."

Jess frowns, trying to snatch the newspaper out of Schmidt's hands, "Did the loft tell you that, or are you just making assumptions?"

She's being childish and she doesn't care, Schmidt stands up, walking towards his bedroom, newspaper in hand, "You can feel the tension in the air," he flicks his hands around, making it as dramatic as possible, "It's poisonous and I will not be a part of it."

The three remaining people in the kitchen area flinch simultaneously as Schmidt's door slams unceremoniously. Winston's eyes shift between Jess and Nick as he realises he's the third wheel of whatever situation this is, "I'm just gonna go over…here…and you guys can-"

"Oh come on, Winston!" Nick shouts, breaking his silence, "You're not actually going to listen to him, are you? It's Schmidt, he likes to make a big deal about everything. The loft is going to be just fine."

Winston shrugs, "I don't know man, this definitely feels like a shift in the loft dynamic." He walks from the room and seconds later another door being closed rather forcefully can be heard.

Nick turns to Jess and there must be something in his eyes giving away that he wants to say because before any words can pass his lips, she has spoken, "I already told you I forgive you," she shrugs, placing some bread in the toaster.

He puts his bowl down, coming around to her side of the counter, "But there's more to talk about here. You can't just forgive me and expect it to go away."

She watches him carefully, allowing herself to be drawn to him, "I don't know about this, Nick. I mean, we're attracted to each other, we got that out of the way months ago."

"But?"

"_And_," she emphasises, "I'm curious about you."

He smiles, not sure how to take that.

"The loft though…"

"Not you too."

"Schmidt has a point, Nick."

He hangs his head. The good ones are never the easy catch.

She reaches out to rest a hand on his shoulder, "Take me out for dinner and we can talk about it all."

Raising his head, just a fraction, he sees the sincerity in her eyes, can almost feel her beckoning to him, as though she wants him to just break all the rules and go for it, just this once.

And he almost does.

Until her toast pops up and she scrambles away, leaving him there trying to work out the best way to convince her that he is worthwhile.

..:::..

"I thought you'd at least put some effort into impressing me, Miller."

He rolls his eyes as he takes her coat from her, placing it behind the bar, "I forgot I had to work. These things happen. So can we just pretend that this is dinner and eat the nuts?" He nudges a small bowl of pistachios towards her.

She makes an obvious show about chewing into one of the nuts, pushing herself forward on the barstool, "So…"

He leans into her space, "So…"

..:::..

"So, this cannot happen."

Winston switches the TV off, giving up trying to watch it around a pacing Schmidt, "Dude, chill."

Schmidt stops mid pace, facing his housemate square on, "Chill? Chill?! I can't chill, Winston, because our best friends, our fellow loft inhabitants are ruining everything!" He moves in close to Winston, pointing at a lone zit on his forehead, "I'm breaking out I'm so stressed."

"First of all, that is not a break out." Schmidt can only roll his eyes, "Second, Nick and Jess are adults, if they want to go out, they can go out, that's their choice. Third-"

But Schmidt is already cutting him off, "We just need to give them other choices."

"No…"

"Yeah. We'll just introduce them to other people. People more suited to them. We'll plant the idea. It'll be like dateception."

"Schmidt-"

"Because it's like inception, but with dating."

"No, I got that. I just don't think this is a good idea."

But Schmidt is already dialling eligible men and women from across Los Angeles to meet them at the bar.

..:::..

When Jess returns from the bathroom she isn't surprised to see Schmidt and Winston at the bar, what she is surprised by is the volume by which the crowd seems to have grown in the last five minutes. Using her elbows to push her way back to her seat, she eyeballs her housemates, "What are you guys doing here?"

Schmidt beams at her, "Just having a casual drink with a few of our close friends."

Jess doesn't look impressed, "Your closest friends, hey?"

He nods, Winston backs away, not willing to take any credit for their crowd of people.

"Well then, you couldn't explain to me why you seem to have brought my dentist with you, could you?

Schmidt's eyes widen, caught in his lie, "Okay, some numbers were from fridge magnets. We just wanted you to see that there is more out there than just your roommates."

"You don't think we know that? We're just seeing where things go, Schmidt. It's not like we're engaged. We kissed once, for crying out loud."

She doesn't wait for an answer to her frustration, nor does she wait to see what Nick's reaction to her minor outburst might be, instead she makes a beeline for the exit, gulping in fresh air when she gets to the car park.

Maybe Schmidt is right. Maybe they should just quit while they're ahead. She knows that whatever happens between her and Nick, whether it be romantic or physical would affect the entire loft. Winston already seemed beyond scared by it all and Schmidt had made his opinions quite clear.

Maybe it was best to keep the friendships intact rather than destroy them by something that she's not one hundred per cent sure on.

The sounds of footsteps on the path behind her stir her from her thoughts as whoever it is that has followed her calls out her name, "Jessica Day?"

She turns around, spotting one of the guys Schmidt had brought along with him waving something small and blue in the air. Her wallet.

"Oh thank you!" he catches up to her, slipping her license back into the purse now that he's found the owner.

"Not a problem, I'm Seb. Schmidt invited me here to meet the famous Jess, so I thought I'd better actually say hi." He holds out a hand in greeting.

Jess smiles, taking his hand, "Typical Schmidt inviting men to meet me when I'm on a date."

Seb frowns at that, pointing a thumb over his shoulder, "That was a date?"

She nods, "Kind of."

"Have you even had dinner?"

She smiles as her stomach growls quietly as though on a cue, "No I haven't actually."

Seb takes her by the hand and starts directing her out of the car park, "Then I believe it's on me." He pauses for a second, letting go of her hand, "Sorry, that was very corny and probably slightly creepy seeing as you met me a minute ago."

She grins, cute guy taking her out for dinner? Maybe it's a very conveniently placed sign that she and Nick just aren't meant to be.

Glancing once over her shoulder at the bar, she makes a decision to just go with it. It's probably still a mad house inside anyway, Nick won't even realise she's missing. Picking up Seb's hand, she takes the leap, "Let's go get dinner."

..:::..


	3. Chapter 3

_You guys are lovely! Thank you for all your reviews :) Sorry Jess was a bit of a meanie in the last chapter, it's made up for here, I promise. Lucky last chapter, keeping this one short and sweet. Hope you enjoy :) _

_It's been a wonderful little taste of the New Girl fandom and I hope to be back soon :)_

..:::..

Chapter Three

..:::..

Seb is good looking. He's got olive skin and dark hair. He's literally tall, dark and handsome. He also has kind eyes and a nice smile.

And she has to constantly remind herself of all of this so she won't blurt out how incredibly boring he is.

As she picks at her lasagne he speaks of wondrous things such as dust and how it all comes to settle on the table. She physically has to bite her tongue to get through the meal that she is now thinking would be full of dust.

This was definitely a mistake.

Or a very convenient push in the right direction.

Because one dinner with handsome-but-boring-Seb has shown her that maybe she shouldn't have walked away from Nick, maybe she shouldn't have been paying so much attention to Schmidt and maybe she should just kiss Nick again…see where it goes.

She offers Seb a, "Mmmhmm," to keep him happy as he continues to talk about the most mundane things, taking a long sip from her wine glass.

She is going to need something a lot stronger to get her through the night.

As Seb continues to drone on, she notices a disagreement going on between the maître d and what she can only assume is a disgruntled customer. At any rate it is far more interesting than Seb, so she continues to watch to see what happens.

She almost chokes on her wine when she sees Nick Miller rounding the corner into the restaurant, turtle face on.

This is not going to end well.

He pushes past the waitresses and all the tables until he arrives at theirs. It's amazing how unobservant Seb is, really, because he only looks up when Nick is leaning over him, anger defined in his features, "She was on a date."

He doesn't give any other explanation, he doesn't pose it as a question or expect an answer. He just states it as it is and watches as Seb's face drops, "She was hungry, I didn't mean anything by it."

Nick raises his eyebrows, "How about you go pay? I'd like to talk to Jess."

Seb sort of scrambles away, waving blindly at Jess as he leaves. She doesn't think she'll ever see him again, but that doesn't really faze her. What gets to her is the intensity with which Nick is looking at her.

"You can't just do that, Nick."

He pushes the plates and glasses out of the way, making sure that her whole attention is on him, "You walked out on a date, I can do what I want."

She bows her head for a moment, "Schmidt got to me."

He looks angrier at that than at her walking out on him, "I know it was a bit full on in the bar, I get that, but jeez Jess, you could have told me if you didn't want to come back."

She chews her lip, "I did want to come back. But not while Schmidt and his crew of eligible bachelors were there."

He shakes his head, "Schmidt is a jerk. He is also my best friend and can see reason when it's presented to him in Schmidt terms." Nick shrugs, "He's currently covering the last hour of my shift at the bar because he wanted me to come find you."

Jess skips over the obvious sweetness of the moment to ask, "And how exactly did you find me?"

He smiles, "Tracked his iPhone."

She lets a laugh out, "You're such a stalker."

"Just for you."

That sobers them and they sit there for a moment just absorbing everything.

"I'm sorry I took off."

He shrugs, "I suppose this goes both ways, because I already forgave you." He watches as her eyes widen in that confused way they do, as though she can't quite believe that she's getting away with this all so easily. By way of explanation, he elaborates, "Schmidt may have mentioned that Seb is the worst person at conversations, I figured that might be punishment enough for tonight."

She smiles at him, grateful for his maturity, "You hungry?"

He pulls Jess' lasagne towards him, grabbing her fork, "Starving."

..:::..

Schmidt is passed out on the couch when they get home. Winston, who is just about to leave for work explains, "He had a real tough shift, you guys. There were a lot of people who knew him in the bar, so they all wanted to be served by him. I don't think he's ever poured a beer in his entire life."

He's got a lingering sheen of sweat on his forehead, a tea-towel in his back pocket and a handful of lime segments next to him on the couch. It's the picture of dishevelled.

Winston waves to them from the door and they wait about all of two seconds before they decide that it might be bed time for them as well.

She links her arm through his as they walk towards their rooms, leaning her head on his shoulder, "So I decided something tonight."

He stops walking, looking at her, "Yeah?"

"I'm not content with dating other people."

"Hmm? Is that right?"

She pulls away from him a little, still holding his arm, but giving herself enough space that she can see his face; she needs to know that he understands, "Whatever this is, we do it slowly. And we don't involve the others in it just yet."

He nods. Involving Schmidt and Winston would be the worst idea in the world; they've seen that in action tonight, "So stealing kisses in the hallway?"

She smiles and whispers, "For now," before tugging him down to her lips, winding her arms around his neck as he pulls her off the ground. Her fingers push into his hair as she wraps her legs around his waist. He moves them to his door, holding her up against it, toying with the idea of just opening it and falling through.

But he doesn't. Instead he pulls back, leaning in to press his lips once more on hers in a final taste for the night, "Sleep well, Jess."

She lets her legs fall from his hips, settling back on the ground and feeling oh so wrong. Her lips are red, her eyes a deeper desired filled blue, her cheeks flushed and hot, "Goodnight Nick."

And somehow they manage to just go their separate ways.

..:::..

They're mid conversation when Jess walks in the next morning.

"I have so much more respect for you now. Bar tending is hard."

Nick pats Schmidt on the shoulder, "It gives me great pleasure to hear that."

"Careful boys, don't want to shift the loft dynamic too much." She mutters, smiling, as she opens the fridge.

Schmidt gives her a look that sums up how ashamed he is of himself for trying to set her up with other men, "I already put a fifty in the jar."

"That means a lot, Schmidt."

He just grins, "Ah, you crazy kids deserve a chance," before walking towards the bathroom to ready himself for the day.

Jess comes around the Nick's side of the counter to offer him some juice when he grabs her by the arm, pulling her in for a morning kiss. She kind of just drops the juice container on the bench, allowing herself to get caught up in it, wrapping her arms around him.

When he pulls away she offers him a quizzical look, to which he answers, "I didn't want to confine the stolen kisses to the hallway."

She leans into him for a less frantic kiss, accepting his logic. It's a nice moment, one she's sure she could get used to.

They spring apart, quickly sorting themselves out and making it look as though they are just enjoying a nice platonic breakfast, as the front door opens and Winston comes in. They needn't have worried though as he just walks straight past them to the couch, offering not so much as a glance in their direction, but instead whinging about how he hasn't slept in two days and how his adjusted sleeping schedule is just a joke to all of the regular sleeping people.

It's at that point that Nick and Jess share a knowing look, because this really could be just that easy.

And maybe they really can do this.

..:::..


End file.
